General Question

Is anyone interested in canning?

It is a dying art – and I was very fortunate to have it passed down to me. I have gathered tips and recipes for decades from different friends. Just wondered if there is anyone out there that I could help, or anyone who could add to my collection of recipes. Thanks!

I have always been afraid of doing my own canning because I was afraid that I might screw it up and give everyone botulism. I enjoyed growing up with neighbors who gave us home canned tomatoes from their garden on the most dreary of winter days. A taste of summer in a jar. Then once we got a bad jar and it had green stuff in it and granma used it as a lesson on what can happen in canning gone wrong.

I have never had a bottle not seal or go bad. I can my own pickles, salsa, spaghetti sauce, jam, and soup. I even make my own saurkraut and can it. Of course, the most satisfying is when you grew the fruit or veggies yourself.

I love canning. Steamy, heavy, your hands in a mass of life, good smells, and yes, “a taste of summer in a jar”. I like to can tomatoes along with onions and garlic; peaches along with blueberries. Instant niceness when you open them. Lots and lots of plum jam, blackberry jelly (I strain it so no seeds, and I slip cinnamon into it, it’s subtle and fantastic), and rosehip jelly too, for flavor and vitamins, gotta combine with apples to get enough volume. Such a complete pleasure. Never had a problem but I think that’s because I stick to very acidic ingredients which tend to self-immunize against bacteria.
I don’t do it every year, but I should.

I am very interested in learning more. I have never tried it and always wanted to. In the age of processed foods and superstores i really love the idea of doing things the way they would have a few generations ago. There is something very appealing about the idea of going to the farm, getting fresh produce in season, and preserving it yourself (the natural way) for later enjoyment.

Well, Hero, most canners come with instructions and cookbooks. I have two recipe books, one is called “Pickling” and the other is called “Putting Food By.” Both are excellent, but it sounds like susanc has gone the exra mile and put some great combinations together. So susanc, how about sharing your method for tomatoes with onion and garlic?

Well, salsa is easy, foolproof, and everyone likes it. Make your favorite salsa. Put it in a saucepan and get it steaming hot. Put some cute jelly jars through the diswasher, and fill them with the salsa while they’re still piping hot, up to halfway up the rim. Put on the lids and rings, and hot water bath for 20 minutes. If you don’t have a good salsa recipe, I can give you one.

I’d love to hear your recipe. I’ve made salsa a few times before with my food processor machine and the results were encouraging!

A question, I know you can reuse the metal bands, but can you reuse the metal lids? My thought was that they were one-time use only due to making that tight seal somehow… yeah my logic on this point doesn’t make much sense.

The lids can’t be used over. The rings can actually be taken off after the jars are sealed, if you want. After the sealing process, they are no longer serving any purpose. I don’t have my salsa recipe here at work, but I will get it to you in the next few days. You can make it from tomatoes, green tomatoes or tomatillos. Here is what I remember about it:

Prick the tomatoes. Cut stems off jalapenos. Put the tomatoes, jalapenos, onion and garlic in a large bowl and microwave for 10 minutes. Take them out and put them in the blender or food processor, along with pickling salt and lime juice. Always use pickling salt in canning. It doesn’t have iodine in it. I don’t remember how much of each, so will get back with you on the amounts. Put on “chop” and run until all the contents are flowing free. Then without taking the twist-time off the bunch of cilantro, take the bunch in both hands, twist off the stem end (about half-way down the bunch) and discard. Put the cilantro in the blender and just hit the button a couple of times to course-chop. Since you microwaved the ingredients before, it will be plenty hot enough to just go ahead and put in your jars. Make sure there is no spilled stuff on the rims of your jars before you put the lids on. Wet your finger and run it around the rim to make sure. When you hot-water bath the jars, make sure the water is at least a couple inches over the top of the jars. Follow the directions that came with your hot water bath canner. You will be fine.